Depaul Blue Demons

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The Sports Xchange By Everett Merrill, The Sports Xchange DePaul struggles without three starters NEWARK, N.J. -- When healthy, the DePaul Blue Demons have found it difficult to win on the road in the Big East Conference this season. Securing a victory against Seton Hall on Saturday night at the Prudential Center without three of its key players proved to be an impossible task. DePaul slipped to 1-4 away from home in the conference, falling 86-69 to Seton Hal. The Blue Demons (10-11, 2-6 Big East)

The DePaul Blue Demons, already undersized and understaffed much of this season because of injuries, continue to make the job harder for themselves. Within a point of Conference USA leader North Carolina-Charlotte (11-6, 7-0) midway through the first half, DePaul (5-14, 1-6) let the 49ers run off 10 straight points on the way to a 14-point halftime lead Thursday night at the Horizon. The Blue Demons, who committed 12 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, rallied in the second half, closing to within four points twice, but they never could win the game of catchup and fell 86-73.

The DePaul Blue Demons, who have lived and died with their outside shooting this season, used a season-high nine three-pointers to post a 68-58 victory over Niagara Tuesday night at the Horizon, ending a nine-game losing streak. Four of DePaul's five starters reached double figures as the Demons also snapped a nine-game Horizon losing streak. Willie Coleman and Thomas Cooper led DePaul with 16 points each, and surprise starter Demarcus Gaines added nine to go with his team-high seven rebounds.

Will coach Pat Summitt's Tennessee Volunteers suffer a "hangover" from Saturday's 86-72 beating by Connecticut when they play host to Old Dominion, Auburn and LSU this week? "I don't know," Summitt said on the eve of Tuesday's Old Dominion game, "but if we do, it will be a costly hangover because of our next opponents. Old Dominion, for example, will be as physical as UConn and will come at us constantly." Summitt has coached Tennessee to six NCAA titles. She knows that if Tennessee and Connecticut clash in the 2002 tournament, her Vols won't have much of a chance against Gino Auriemma's currently unbeaten No. 1-ranked Huskies unless they improve significantly in two areas.

It could have been an emotional letdown from Saturday's dramatic comeback victory over Louisville. Or it could have been because the DePaul Blue Demons were playing the error-prone and hapless Detroit-Mercy Titans. At any rate, after one half of really awful basketball at the Horizon, the Blue Demons regained their form and breezed to a 78-47 victory that improved their record to 16-8 and kept alive hopes of an NCAA tournament bid. Detroit fell to 12-14. Tom Kleinschmidt scored 20 points for the Demons, but senior classmate Brandon Cole was the standout.

The final score was fine, 72-58 in favor of his DePaul Blue Demons. But the way his team played on its way to that outcome was hardly to coach Joey Meyer's liking. "We were terrible," Meyer said after Tuesday night's game against Maine at the Horizon had ended. "And the better team didn't win the game." The DePaul players echoed Meyer's disgust. "We practiced awful yesterday and we played awful today," said Bryant Bowden, who grabbed 13 rebounds to go with 14 points. "Our mentality was to come and blow them out, which is what the problem was."

They have played in famous places from Durham, N.C., to Lawrence, Kan., to Westwood in Los Angeles. They were raised for this experience before they thought of becoming DePaul Blue Demons. There were traveling teams and summer leagues and all those hours on hot asphalt, all leading to what will happen Thursday. The players from DePaul will step off a bus and into a scene they have envisioned for years. There will be people in the stands for practice at Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C. Friday night the Demons will meet Kansas in their school's first NCAA tournament game since 1992.

WASHINGTON -- Guard Markel Starks scored 21 points and guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera had 12 as the Georgetown Hoyas conquered early offensive struggles and the DePaul Blue Demons for a 61-54 win on Tuesday night in the Big East opener for both teams. Spurred on by their backcourt pairing, the Hoyas (9-3, 1-0) took the lead for good during a 25-8 run overlapping halftime. Georgetown wrapped up 2013 winning eight of nine games, including its opening game in the retooled conference, and its 13th straight victory over the Blue Demons.

Things got so bad for the DePaul Blue Demons last week they were suiting up team managers and assistant coaches to have enough bodies for five-on-five practices--not the best way to prepare for Southern Mississippi. The Golden Eagles overcame DePaul's 16-point first-half lead to hand the Demons a 77-67 defeat Saturday in a Conference USA matchup at Alumni Hall. With point guard Jermaine Watts (knee injury) and his 16-point average in street clothes alongside sixth man Doc Taylor (ankle)